POSSIBLE CANDIDATES FOR AFFORDABLE CARE

Why they’re eager to see if Obamacare will help:

Tangerine Young 42, South Shore, uninsured for two years, might qualify for the marketplace

As a person who contracts with the state government to distribute free phones to lowincome people, Young makes about $30,000. That’s too much to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to pay for private insurance. Though Young has never had to go to the hospital for an illness, she said not having insurance makes her feel nervous, because “one incident could be detrimental financially and everything else.”

Heidi Massey 52, Rogers Park, has insurance that’s bare bones, might qualify for the marketplace

Massey found herself without health insurance when she was laid off in 2009. She eventually was able to buy private insurance after she started her own business. She makes about $43,000. Because she has a few pre-existing conditions, such as being overweight, the only plan Massey could afford is “Band-Aid insurance.” Even though she spends $300 a month on insurance, “if I want to get a mammogram or whatever else, I have to pay for it until I get below a certain weight and can afford the other insurance.”

Donald Bunn 53, West Englewood, uninsured for 52 years, should qualify for Medicaid

Bunn tried once to buy health insurance when he got a job working at a day care center because “I figured I needed it.” But he couldn’t afford it then, and it became even less of a possibility when he lost that job in 1978. “I’ve been in the hospital a few times, for fights or getting cut,” Bunn said. “It cost $300 to $400 each time, so if I could afford [health insurance], I would get it,” he said, because he said he knows how much cheaper it would be. — Monifa Thomas